I visited the Parliament Buildings today, and the Canadian War Museum. But as I’ve followed my GPS from one part of Ottawa to the next for various school presentations, I’ve also ended up wandering through all sorts of interesting neighborhoods.

I had lunch in the sort of place that would happen if Vancouver’s Fraser Street hooked up with Commercial and had a baby: phô and iced coffee right next door to a trattoria. Nearby was this place:

It was a juxtaposition of gourmet pizzeria, nail spa, and tactical defence base. I was a little worried that I might get shot while taking this photo, but I couldn’t resist.

I’ve learned that there are many more bilingual people in Ottawa than in Vancouver. This has put a damper on my eavesdropping habits. I tried all through lunch, and all I got was that the people next to me were talking about something red. (I’ve retained words like “porquois” and “avec” but no nouns, apparently.)

I’ve also learned that Ottawa folk are abnormally patient. I’ve been driving around all week like a confused snail, and not a single person has honked at me.

Overall, for its combination of cultural mash-ups and extreme patience, with a lot of lovely green space thrown in (I’m writing this in a corner park), I have to give Ottawa two big thumbs up.